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Sharrod Wellingham
A classy midfielder-come-defender, Sharrod Wellingham came off Collingwood's rookie list to play in their 2010 flag. He played closed to 100 games in black and white but returned to WA at the end of the 2012 season. Collingwood career Wellingham played junior footy with Perth before being picked up by Collingwood in the 2007 rookie draft. Before he had played a senior game for the Pies he cost them their TAC sponsorship after being caught drink-driving in January 2008. He made his debut in 2008, played 12 games for the year and was promoted to the senior list at the end of the season. From 2009 Wellingham become a regular member of the powerful Collingwood midfield, often taking a defensive assignment on an opposition star. He played in the drawn grand final in 2010 and won a premiership medal in the replay the following week. After 92 games in black and white, Wellingham requested a trade to West Coast at the end of the 2012 season. He was swapped for West Coast's first round pick. West Coast career Wellingham's time as an Eagle got off to a poor start when he fell off a trampoline in the pre-season and injured his ankle, delaying his start to the season. After a hit-out with East Perth, he made his debut against the Bulldogs but reinjured his ankle against North Melbourne two weeks later. Wellingham was forced to come back through Claremont's reserves before returning to the Eagles' lineup. After a couple of weeks to shake off the cobwebs he hit a purple patch late in the season, kicking six goals and averaging 24 disposals in a four-game period to show why West Coast were so keen to bring him home. In 2014, however, he struggled for form throughout the year and was dropped to the WAFL several times with his attitude in question. Wellingham’s best game for the season came against Gold Coast when, after initially being dropped, he got a late reprieve and responded with a solid tagging job on Gary Ablett. It proved a false dawn as he was dropped again a few weeks later, before knee injury suffered at East Perth brought an early end to a disappointing season. Coming out of contract at the end of 2015 and no sure thing to get another one, Wellingham resurrected his career with a move to the backline that was a resounding success, his run and dash out of defence reminiscent of Wirrpanda at his peak. The former Magpie played 24 games for the season and finished in the top 10 in the best and fairest for the first time. Wellingham suffered knee and foot injuries during the 2016 pre-season but overcame a late start to the season to be a mainstay in the backline once again, playing 19 games. 2017 was a mixed bag, with Wellingham suffering a hamstring injury shortly before the mid-season bye and struggling to hold his spot from that point onwards as Liam Duggan and Jackson Nelson locked down positions in the backline. He played just 13 games for the year and was tried in a number of other roles, including as a forward in the semi-final, but to little effect. Somewhat surprisingly, he was not offered a new contract at the end of the season. Post-AFL career Wellingham resisted overtures from his original WAFL club Perth and remained with the Royals for 2018. Stats Tribunal record Links http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/S/Sharrod_Wellingham.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharrod_Wellingham http://www.wafl.com.au/players/view/4963 Wellingham Wellingham Wellingham